Jacqueline Battalora, PH.D., J.D.
- Critical Race Education -
“Nothing in my life has required more courage, curiosity, and humility than the exploration of race and few efforts have meant so much.”
-Jacqueline Battalora, PH.D., J.D., M.T.S-
- Jacqueline Battalora, PH.D., J.D., M.T.S -
Celebrated Author
Race in America: When Did We Become a ‘White Nation?’
This new book on race in America begins with the moment when “white people” as a separate and distinct group of humanity were invented through legislation and the enforcement of laws. It explains how the creation of this distinction divided laborers, and ultimately served the interests of the elite. It also examines how foundational law and policy were used to institutionalize the practice of white people holding positions of power.
This book demonstrates how the social construction and legal enactment of “white people” has ultimately compromised the humanity of those so labeled. Learn how and why America took this path in Birth of a White Nation:The Invention of White People and Its Relevance Today.
Drawing on history and law, Birth of White Nation reveals how, when, where, and why a group called "white people" was first created in colonial North America. This origin story of white-body supremacy examines how a core organizing feature of U.S society came to be. Birth of a White Nation is an important read for anyone who seeks to understand the key developments that have kept us—and continue to keep us—from being a united nation.
—Resmaa Menakem, author of My Grandmother's Hands and Rock the Boat
We cannot unmake racism if we don't know how we made race. Dr. Battalora provides an accessible foundation for the antiracism project. Her work has been indispensable to mine.
—Robin DiAngelo, Ph.D. Author of White Fragility and Nice Racism
Do you want to understand the history of the term "white people" in the United States and how it has shaped our laws and identities? Read Birth of A White Nation by Jacqueline Battalora. A clearly written and illuminating book.
—Rosemary Radford Ruether, author of 34 books including, Sexism and God Talk
- Jacqueline Battalora, PH.D., J.D., M.T.S -
Critical Race Educator & Speaker
Jacqueline Battalora is the author of the book, Birth of a White Nation: The Invention of White People and Its Relevance Today. She is an attorney, professor of Sociology at Saint Xavier University in Chicago, and spent three years as a Chicago Police Officer. Battalora is an editor for the Journal of Understanding and Dismantling Privilege.
She completed her law degree at the University of Toledo and came to Chicago to practice. Her interest in the role of law in creating human difference shaped her graduate studies at Northwestern University where she received her Ph.D.
Her scholarship and keynotes help participants:
- make sense of RACE today
- find a role to play in advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- become active participants in personal and social transformation
- shift organizational culture toward an environment of belonging
- increase the recognition and realization of human talent